RISK

Friday, July 28, 2023

And why should we ourselves risk our lives hour by hour?  For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, that I face death daily.  

1 Corinthians 15:30-31a

Apostle Paul faced risks many of us would avoid like the plague.  He did it so others might know of God’s Good News, the salvation message of Christ.  Author Leo Buscaglia wrote about risk:

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out to another is to risk involvement,

To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.

To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.

To love is to risk not being loved in return,

To live is to risk dying,

To hope is to risk despair,

To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.  The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.  He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live.  Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has forfeited all freedom.  Only a person who risks is free.[1]

People take all kinds of risks in life.  There are risks abounding at the casinos in Las Vegas, mountains and valleys to be explored, and (as my daughter did on her 40^th birthday) planes to be jumped-out-of with nothing but a few pounds of silk and string to slow-down your fall. 

Those fun and exciting adrenaline-rush risks are at one end of the spectrum of reasons why one would risk life and limb.  At the other end of the risk-spectrum are more noble and substantive explanations why reasonable people put themselves in harm’s way. 

·       Firefighters run to the fire, while everyone else is running from the fire. 

·       Soldiers strap-on up to 120 pounds of Kevlar flak jacket, munitions, helmet and weapon when they face the risk of enemy fire. 

·       Line repair for the electricity that powers your toaster is done by risk-takers, 30-feet off the ground, daring 13,800 volts of power to behave itself. 

·       The list is endless.

The thin line of risk walked by Apostle Paul was life or death at the hands of those steeped in the kind of power human ego uses to oppress that which threatens their power.  Before he met Jesus, Paul was one of those people.  When he met Jesus his life was turned from oppressing the followers of Jesus, to fugitive-on-the-run to preach Christ’s love and hope.  Those who pursued Paul had him falsely accused of sedition, imprisoned, and eventually executed…martyred. 

Paul was (and is) a study in how to daily abandon self, and lay it all down for the Kingdom of God…or as Jesus put it:  take up your cross daily, and follow me.[2]  That is hardly suicidal…rather it is the invitation to let go of the old life of death, and be introduced to the Grand New Life which only Christ can give. 

For You Today 

In 1945, Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote from a Nazi prison, just before facing Adolph Hitler’s hangman:  When Christ calls a man, he bids him ‘Come and die’.  That may seem a bit on the risky side…but it’s guaranteed by the blood of the only Son of the Creator and King of the Universe.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  

 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] Leo Buscaglia, Living Loving and Learning, Souvenir Press Ltd, 1983, English Literature & Linguistics

[2] See Matthew 16:24 and Mark 8:34

Exuberance and Exhaustion

Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator.  Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.”  Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky.  Remember him before your legs—the guards of your house—start to tremble; and before your shoulders—the strong men—stoop.  Remember him before your teeth—your few remaining servants—stop grinding; and before your eyes—the women looking through the windows—see dimly.  Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades.  Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint.  Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire.  Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral.  Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken.  Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well.  For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.  “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless.”  Keep this in mind:  The Teacher was considered wise, and he taught the people everything he knew.  He listened carefully to many proverbs, studying and classifying them.  The Teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.  The words of the wise are like cattle prods—painful but helpful.  Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep.  But, my child, let me give you some further advice:  Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out.  That’s the whole story.  Here now is my final conclusion:  Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.  God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.  Ecclesiastes 12:1-14

In every old man or woman there is a child awaiting release; a tribute to the memory of days when waking up would be without assorted pains, joints adjusting, and thoughts of:  what new ailment might there be on the menu today?

Solomon, or someone who knew him very well, wrote this part of Ecclesiastes.  And he contrasts the energy of youth, with the depletion of old age.  It can be depressing, especially if you’re closer to the end than the beginning. 

Yet, in it all, there is a sense of refreshing about the teacher’s conclusion, which gets down to the nub of what’s important, fearing God, and trusting all to His judgment.  He says God will judge all the good and bad, whether hidden or open.  Once again the contrast between youth and the aged is evident; youth are busy doing things, making their mark, full of energy and hope.  The old are winding-down, remembering, evaluating their lives, both good and bad, regrets and satisfaction.  The youth are on display; the old are watching reruns.  And God judges us all.

For You Today

Whether your life is flowing like spring water, or your well’s rope is broken along with the drawing bucket, life is the same…live it as God gives you breath, and give it to others as God blesses your strength.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic explore some of these:  Something Better and Remembering Before You Can’t

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com     Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©